By James Rundle and Angus Loten
The convergence of artificial intelligence with
internet-connected machines and superfast 5G wireless networks is
opening possibilities across the planet -- and even in outer
space.
These advancements are allowing farmers to pick the optimal way
to grow crops, pharmaceutical companies to shorten the development
times of new drugs, researchers to track pandemics, and cities to
manage their resources in a manner that was pure science fiction at
the turn of the millennium.
Taken alone, these technologies have enormous potential in their
own right, but combined, experts say, they have the power to
transform industrial technology on a scale not seen since the
advent of steam power.
The key ingredient, the experts say, is 5G. It gives developers
the ability to scale up projects more easily because there's no
need to build extensive fiber-optic networks to keep data flowing.
What's more, 5G networks let internet-connected devices transmit
much more information much more quickly -- which in turn is
spurring developers to come up with more advanced machines that can
take maximum advantage of the capability.
"5G in the field, in real-world deployments, enhances the value
of all these other technologies," says Bill Menezes, a senior
principal analyst at information-technology research and advisory
firm Gartner Inc.
Here's a look at early examples of what is possible when these
technologies are yoked together:
In food and drinks
In the food industry, AI is already being used to track supply
chains and ingredient quality, sort produce and even create taste
profiles to target specific demographics. And the technology is
poised to take on ever more complex tasks as it links up with 5G
and networks of online-capable devices known as the Internet of
Things.
Even the beer in our refrigerators may be partly designed by
computer systems in the years to come -- with sensors to collect
massive amounts of data on ingredients, AI to crunch the numbers
and 5G networks shuttling the information between them.
Carlsberg AS is exploring how this kind of approach can be used
to develop new lagers at its research lab in Denmark.
The work focuses on yeast selection for the fermentation process
needed to produce beer. Currently, the operation is costly in both
time and resources: Thousands of yeast variants are tested over
several weeks or months to determine whether they can function
correctly on the mass-production scales required by Carlsberg. The
tests also determine whether the process can produce enough
alcohol.
Almost all of the variants end up being discarded. Even if they
can meet the necessary standards, there's no way of reasonably
determining how they will taste until the fermentation process is
far along enough for human testing -- meaning months of development
could be wasted. One or two variants might make the final cut out
of around 2,000 tested.
This, says Jochen Förster, director and professor of yeast and
fermentation at Carlsberg Research Lab, is where fast networks that
can handle AI and lots of data play a role.
The project, part of a collaboration with Aarhus University, the
Technical University of Denmark and Microsoft Corp., is developing
sensors that can determine the ultimate flavor of yeast variants
before the fermentation process starts. Machine learning powers
analysis of the wildly varied data that these sensors deliver and
assembles it into a readable form.
The program, known as the Beer Fingerprinting Project, has
another year to run and hasn't yet developed any new flavors, but
the team is beginning to file patents for technology developed
during its research, Dr. Förster says. As for future applications,
he believes that the sensors they have developed could have
applications for the pharmaceutical and medical industries, such as
detecting microbial contaminations.
"We are generating a lot of knowledge on how to design these
types of sensors, and we can clearly translate the technology to
other applications in foods, diagnostics or in environmental
[areas]," he says.
In hospitals
The world of medicine is immersed in emerging technologies. The
possibility of remote surgery becomes far more achievable, for
instance, as 5G gives doctors more reliable and robust connection
speeds to control machines from afar. Pharmaceutical companies have
released smart pills containing miniaturized computer chips to
track patient health, with the data transmitted back to doctors by
5G.
Meanwhile, all of these new technologies could make a big impact
on the process of drug development itself.
Creating drugs to treat mental-health disorders can take up to
seven years, says Naheed Kurji, chief executive of Toronto-based
biotechnology firm Cyclica Inc. Molecules in drugs can interact
with the body's proteins in any number of ways, which can, in turn,
cause different reactions further on. Now artificial intelligence
can handle the level of computation required to model all those
interactions.
Cyclica is teaming up with Berlin-based biotechnology company
ATAI Life Sciences AG on a joint venture, Entheogenix Biosciences
Inc., to create an AI-powered laboratory that will seek to develop
treatments for mental-health disorders that are derived from
psychoactive substances, including psilocybin, commonly known as
magic mushrooms.
The company is making "the whole process of developing drugs
that cost $1.5 billion, and take 10 to 12 years, shorter and less
costly. That's the ambition," says Florian Brand, ATAI's chief
executive.
On store shelves
Trevor Sumner, CEO of Perch Interactive, says 5G and connected
devices are bringing retailers such as Neiman Marcus a new level of
customer intelligence -- and changing the way shoppers browse the
aisles.
New York-based Perch develops connected retail-marketing
platforms, with sensors installed on store shelves that detect when
customers pick up a product for a closer look, and then relay that
information back to store managers.
"We can say, this product was picked up a hundred times, but
people decided to put it back," Mr. Sumner says. "Let's go find out
what's wrong."
Combined with AI-enabled software and other advanced analytics,
that data can help retailers reset prices or improve product
displays, among other strategies. For instance, Mr. Sumner says,
store managers may arrange their fragrance lines by brand -- but,
after tracking customers, the stores may realize that shoppers
actually browse for products by category, such as perfume, cologne
or eau de toilette.
From the customer's perspective, the Perch technology triggers a
video screen, embedded in the shelf, that provides more information
on products as they browse. Mr. Sumner says retailers using the
tools report an average 60% increase in sales. Current users
include Sunglass Hut, Sephora, Kate Spade and Pernod Ricard.
And 5G, he says, is set to supercharge the platform, which
currently operates over 4G networks, by cutting down latency
speeds. Ramped-up speed will enable the tools to target customers
with more-specific marketing messages -- using facial recognition
to target a customer's demographics -- or a range of
product-related videos, he says.
He adds that the technology collects no personally identifiable
information and runs on its own secure cellular network that is
independent of the retailer.
Within the next few years, Mr. Sumner foresees bricks-and-mortar
stores back on a more competitive footing with online retailers
such as Amazon.com Inc. that can tweak their products based on
clicks and other online behavior. "We can start doing that at
physical retail outlets and drive greater customer engagement," he
says.
In factories
The manufacturing process is perhaps one of the ripest for
transformation by the combination of rapidly evolving technologies.
For instance, advanced sensors will pick up new levels of
performance data about the heavy machinery running inside plants --
which will be transmitted at superfast speeds between those
machines and central control systems.
In the area of maintenance, for example, plant managers could
get an early warning of problems by taking performance data from
the machines and coupling it with external information, such as
data about what makes similar machines break down, says Rajeev
Gollarahalli, chief business officer at 42Q, a part of
computer-chip manufacturer Sanmina Corp.
"I can tell you why it is going to fail because I know the kind
of products that it's run in the past, and I can look at what sort
of wear and tear that may manifest from this product and the effect
it may have on the machine," he says.
The combination of information will also have a huge impact on
product quality, Mr. Gollarahalli says, as companies can use ever
more detailed data to refine the production process.
The new technologies will also assist plant owners in being able
to quickly establish physical facilities in new locations, he says,
as 5G can eliminate the need to set up expensive on-site
infrastructure such as fiber-optic cabling.
"In today's world, especially with all the trade wars and
tariffs and the political situation, you have to be able to very
quickly respond to changes in customer demand or even regulations
to move your factories from one place to another. And 5G is going
to be perfect for that," he says.
In towns, cities and skies
The potential for these emerging technologies doesn't stop with
companies. Many believe that combining them with satellites and
other space technologies could provide windows onto our planet and
ways of understanding our society that were impossible before.
Some of this has already manifested in various partnerships
between the European Space Agency, companies and public-sector
bodies. For instance, Rita Rinaldo, head of the agency's
institutional-projects section, says the agency is exploring how a
combination of space-based technologies and AI can track the spread
of pandemics by collecting data about infection rates and analyzing
it at the source, while combining that information with satellite
images transmitted by 5G.
The agency is also using those types of technologies to
implement projects across a wide variety of industries -- for
instance, energy management in rural or remote areas that may not
have regular access to electricity.
Analyzing data about where villages are located and what types
of buildings they have "can provide insight to planners and to
governments about where to deploy microgrids to provide electricity
in these areas," she says.
Other projects have included partnerships with Telefónica SA's
O2 telecom business to assist with the implementation of autonomous
vehicles by managing traffic and other things, and projects in
agriculture that can correlate sensor data with satellite imagery
to assess the health and status of crops.
Messrs. Rundle and Loten are reporters for The Wall Street
Journal in New York. They can be reached at james.rundle@wsj.com
and angus.loten@wsj.com.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 08, 2019 12:54 ET (17:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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